Kimbal Musk: The government is 'scamming us to grow corn ethanol instead of real food'

When shopping at the grocery store, you've probably
noticed that organic fruits and vegetables cost significantly
more than normal produce.

One main reason for the price difference is that the US
government doesn't encourage farmers to grow organic produce.

When Tech Insider
spoke to Kimbal Musk, the brother of Elon Musk, he explained
that government tax subsidies primarily incentivize
the production of corn ethanol (a biofuel that's combined with
most gasoline).

Since 2009, the government has allocated at least
$186 million toward corn ethanol.

The government is "scamming us [farmers] to grow corn ethanol
instead of real food," Musk says.

Although he previously
worked with Elon as a tech entrepreneur, Kimbal now
devotes his life to revolutionizing the US food system
to help Americans eat healthier and more
sustainably. He owns two restaurant chains,
called The Kitchen and Next Door, and works closely with
local farmers to ensure all the food they serve is made with
organic, local ingredients.

Because of government tax incentives, farmers can make more
money by growing corn than by producing fruits and vegetables,
Musk says.

Since organic produce is more expensive for the farmers to
grow, that jacks up the prices of those products in stores. And
that's a moral issue, as rising food
prices disproportionately affect the poor.

"The system is designed to un-prioritize people," Musk
says.

Furthermore, as Mother Jones' Tim McDonnell points
out, the EPA estimates corn ethanol production emits
anywhere from 6 to 66% more greenhouse gases than
petroleum, depending on the power source used to turn
the cobs into fuel. That
additional CO2 further
accelerates climate change.

Starting in the final years of the George W. Bush
administration, the US started producing more biofuel, which
promptedfourfold growth
in the last decade, Mother Jones
reports. In 2012, corn ethanol accounted
for 94%of all US biofuel, the
production of which has risen 320% over the past eight
years.